Measuring Information Glut: Applying Systems Thinking to the Problem of E-mail Overload

As a result of the unregulated rise of superfluous interoffice e-mail, employees currently must wade through inboxes glutted with needless information to find the tidbits of valuable data actually needed to perform their jobs. This problem, also known as e-mail overload, creates unnecessary stress, reduces workplace productivity, and fundamentally threatens the information superiority of both private and government enterprises. Organizations that try to combat e-mail overload by employing e-mail policies, filters, and personal e-mail management techniques often find that these initiatives miss the mark or do very little to reduce the dissemination of superfluous e-mail. This thesis aims to utilize systems thinking to provide a more complete evaluation of the pitfalls associated with the above-mentioned performance improvement initiatives, and also to demonstrate the central but often overlooked role that balancing feedback and metrics play in systems that have underlying goal-oriented behaviors. The thesis finally proposes an Information Glut Ratio IGR that can potentially provide an organization with a basic, tailorable process for measuring, stabilizing, and regulating the amount of superfluous information that gluts e-mail inboxes.